Night vision goggles are standard equipment used by military personnel to facilitate nocturnal activities and activities that occur in places with minimal light. Night vision goggles are generally adapted for amplifying light as it reflects off objects so that objects are observable essentially in the dark. Starlight or light from the moon is sufficient to allow an object to be distinguished from its surroundings. Such a night vision goggle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,252.
Night vision goggles are frequently worn in addition to a helmet or other similar equipment. The night vision goggles are generally mounted on a head gear, facemask, or other similar equipment allowing the wearer to operate the goggles essentially hands free. Having both hands free assists the wearer to carry on other activities while using the goggles.
One method of mounting night vision goggles has been to design a mount for the specific helmet or facemask on which the user desires the night vision goggles. The shortcoming of this approach is that the user cannot switch helmets without designing a new mount specifically for the new helmet. For example, if a wearer desired to use night vision goggles in an Apache helicopter, a helmet mount would have be designed specifically for the helmet used in Apache helicopters. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,296 ('296 Patent).
In the field, a need arises for soldiers and others to remove their night vision goggles to perform certain tasks. In the past, this has usually required physically removing the night vision goggles from the headgear or facemask, and then when ready to use the goggles again, attaching the goggles. The various approaches for attaching the night vision goggles require a high degree of hand coordination making attachment difficult. The user may have to use one hand to find the mount and the other to guide the night vision goggles to the mount. There have been some designs that have allowed the goggles to be stowed in one position and used in another without disconnecting the goggles from the mount, e.g., the '296 patent, but these designs have not provided a mount that could be used with multiple helmets or headgear and did not provide a convenient power control to terminate the power when the goggles are not in use. This latter shortcoming can be severe for the soldier since night vision goggles emit a light of their own from the eye-receiving portion of the goggles, and snipers and others may be attracted by even short emissions of such light.
In yet another disadvantage of the prior designs, the night vision goggle mounts have frequently been designed to accommodate only one version or type of night vision goggles. Thus, different mounts are required for each type of night vision goggle utilized by a user.
Therefore, a need exists for a mount that may be used with helmets and similar equipment of various sizes and shapes. A need exists for a mount that allows the night vision goggles to be stowed out of the way when not in use, but without detaching the goggles and to easily return the goggles to a position in which they may be used to assist the wearer's vision (line-of-sight position). Additionally, a mount is needed that will automatically adjust the power of the night vision goggles so that it will stop supplying power immediately when the goggles are not being used and will allow power to be supplied when the goggles are placed in the line-of-sight position. Finally, a mount is needed that can accommodate different versions or types of night vision goggles while providing the desired features.